ARC, a provider of SMS software, is improving its Risk Assessment Tool to include an approval process for medium or high-risk assessments. Inspired by a request from the US Armed Forces, the new tool is now in beta testing and will be available in summer of 2020.

The multipurpose online Risk Assessment Tool can accommodate flight, ground, maintenance, drone ops and FBOs. Part of the company's modular online and iPad app, ARC SMS software, the Risk Assessment Tool is available on its own or in conjunction with ARC's other offerings.

“We greatly enhanced our already clean and easy to use Risk Assessment Tool with a streamlined approval process,” says director of operations Kristen Mangold. “Meeting the rigorous standards of the US military shows our ability to adapt and customise our software and app. This enhanced tool offers better oversight of safety factors, by giving appropriate individuals in a department real time visibility surrounding risk evaluation.”

With the new update, the process begins as normal with the user submitting a risk assessment. If it is a medium or high-risk score, an operator has the option to implement a review and approval process. The submission will then be pushed to a supervisor for review, where the individual can decide to approve or reject it.

In some cases, the approval process will end there, but for larger departments, the manager can also decide whether to approve the assessment, reject it or advance it further up the approval chain. The requester and all individuals involved receive alerts when an assessment has been approved or rejected and the approval status appears in the status column.